South Africa Adventure #4, Cape Town, SA

We arrived by South African Airlines to Cape Town on Saturday October 24 and took our BMW upgrade to the Blackheath Lodge in the Sea Point district of Cape Town on the Atlantic seaboard. The lodge served as our base of operations for exploring the greater Cape Town area for the next three days. Blackheath is another boutique hotel, just 19 rooms, that served glorious breakfasts to get us going for the day. Sunday afternoon we drove the windy coast road east to Hout Bay and its indoor market. There was lots of food and music, and I was particularly taken by a local band, Oceans Rift, jazzy with a banjo, if you can believe that!

Monday was a tourist day of mixed success. First on our list was Table Mt., which rises 3500' and for can be seen anywhere in Cape Town. When we drove to the base, we encountered a queue of nearly 1 1/2 hours for the gondola to the top. The wait was worth it, or so we thought. The views were terrific, and the day was sunny and clear with seemingly limitless visibility, but with strong, gusty winds that could blow you over the wall! When we heard thar they may be closing the gondola because of the winds, we bee lined to a short queue for the ride down, and not long after reaching the bottom we heard the horn announcing that the mountain would be closing. We had booked an afternoon tour of Robben Is, but the delays at Table Mt. prevented us from making it. Instead, we went for a late lunch at The Waterfront, filled with countless restaurants, high end hotels and many boats. As those who know me would understand, I spent a lot of time in the Blackheath phone with the South African government trying to convince them to credit us or reimburse us for the missed tour, but to no avail. So, I rebooked for the Wednesday and paid the fare a second time. For dinner, we met up with a couple we met on safari, Lee & Lilly Gunn. Lee is a retired rear admiral, & we never saw Lily without a hat! Our meal at the Kloof House, was not just great for the fine food and company but because the restaurant clearly had served as a brothel in years past.

Tuesday was the quintessential tour of South African wineries. We hired a driver for obvious reasons and visited four, our favorite being the most elegant venue, Delaire Graff Estate, where we enjoyed an excellent lunch overlooking spectacular views of the countryside. And what a day - sunny, dry & hot, near 100 degrees F. The next day we finally made to Robben Is., where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of his 27 years of incarceration as a political dissident. Our guide for the bus portion was hilarious and articulated the curious history of the island. Things can move slowly in Africa, and one of his many lines was, "in Switzerland they have watches, in Africa we have time." Our 2nd guide had been a political prisoner there from '86 to '91, and he took us through the prison, where we saw Mandela's cell. Depressing, but a good lesson in seeking reconciliation rather than revenge for the mistreatment toward so many over so many years. lunch were "rugby burgers," presumably celebrating the 2015 World Cup (where South Africa subsequently took 3rd) at the Waterfront, from where we drove to Camps Bay to check into our next stop, South Beach Hotel.

South Africa Adventure #3 Ezulwini Billy's Lodge, Balule Nature Preserve, SA

The past 5 days have been truly memorable! The first three nights we spent at Ezulwini River Lodge, located on the Oliphant R. within the Balule (private) Reserve, west of Kruger National Park but part of the Greater Kruger National Park. On our arrival via flight from Jo'burg to Hoedspruit we were greeted by a most friendly staff and shown to our circular, thatched-roofed hut, complete with running water, A/C (which we never used), and comfortable bed. On our first day there there were only four of us - the other couple, John & Robin, with whom we quickly made fast friends. On the day of our arrival we had little time to prepare for our 1st safari, which left within the hour.

The Land Rover held 9 in addition to the driver & tracker and had a canvas top to protect us from the sun. Our driver was Lorance and tracker Richard, who sat in a seat high up in the front of the Land Rover. On this 1st safari we saw a pride of lions, elephants and lots of antelope & impalas! As the week wore on, we were treated to 4 of the big 5 - lions, white rhinos, cape buffalos and elephant - failing only to see a leopard, plus zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, warthogs, antelopes, springboks, steinboks, impalas, moose-like kudos, hyenas, and baboons. Highlights included following a herd of hundreds of Cape buffalo as they headed to a watering hole and two prides of lions, including one containing 10 lions with a very large male who had a huge extended belly from the previous night's meal.

We took 2 3 to 3 1/2 hour safaris a day over the 5 days, getting up at first light for the 5:30 safari, then breakfast on return from safari, then time to explore the camp and nap, 3 pm lunch and leaving on the second safari for the day at 4 pm. I kept myself busy on safari by taking hundreds of pictures with my Canon Ti2 plus a few with my iPhone to post on Facebook. On the 1st two safaris there were only 4 of us, and we got to know each other and our guide and tracker. As the week developed we were joined by a French mother & her two young sons and a young medical doctor couple dorm England. Evenings were filled with terrific dinners & South African wines, as well as good conversation. One day a vervet monkey got into the bar area, freaked out when we tried to get him out and broke a few dozen glasses before escaping.

After our 3 nights at the River Lodge, along with our new friends John & Robin we were transported to Billy's Lodge, about an hour's drive away. It is smaller, accommodating a maximum of 14 guests, with a terrific "sky deck" where we could lounge around watching for animals gather at a watering hole. There we were joined by a family from Germany who spoke English sparingly, but much better than our German. Our guide was 21 year old Josh, who reminded me of a young Brian Dennehy, and 19 year old blond tracker Ashley. The lodge was open & free for animals (except elephants) to pass through. On our last night at Billy's we were treated to see the wine cellar, containing an assortment of valuable South African wines and artifacts found over the years at the camp, and an outdoor bar b q, where we were entertained by the 12 black staff members who sang ethnic songs for us. So fun! 🍷

South Africa Adventure #2 Ezulwini River Lodge, Balule Nature Preserve, SA

Pinky & I were fortunate to have stayed at the Clico Boutique Hotel in the Rosebank district of Johannesburg, SA. We stayed three nights in room 9 of only 9 rooms, and the food was truly gourmet. Our guide for two of the three days, Famous Amos, took us to an elephant sanctuary, where elephants are rehabilitated and readied to return to the wild and where we touched and rode an elephant.

Another day we visited Soweto (southwest township), where we saw firsthand living conditions of the poor blacks. Amos, who is black, explained the "order of importance" that prevailed during apartheid: 1. White male, 2. White female, 3. Colored & Indian male, 4. Colored & Indian female, 5. Black male, and 6. Black female.

The Hector Pieter Museum was particularly fascinating. It was named for the boy killed in the June 16, 1976 uprising and shown in the famous photo with his grieving sister, who now conducts tours at the museum and who we saw there. Our day at the Lion Park was highlighted by our seeing and photographing Layla, the white lion that killed a woman tourist when she stuck her head out of the window of her car while taking photos. (I stayed well within our Land Rover!) From the Clico we were taken to the Maritime Bushveld Estate for the 1st 2 days of our 7 day package that I "won" at the PiAf gala & where we were graciously hosted by Brenda & Conrad. The estate accommodates a maximum of 8 or so people, so our stay was intimate and personal. Our hosts couldn't have been more gracious. Conrad & I enjoyed watching together over a few beers an exciting quarterfinal World Cup rugby match where SA defeated Wales 24-19.

Our stay was highlighted by a visit to the Leseda Cultural Village, where we learned about the several pre-colonial cultures in Southern Africa and were entertained with dancing from those cultures. We bade farewell to Brenda & Conrad on Monday, when we took a 45 min. SAA flight from Jo'burg to Hoedspruit Airport, from which we are transported to Ezuulwini River Lodge.

South Africa Adventure #1

Pinky and I are about to embark on another amorous adventure, this one to South Africa. About a year ago I "won" a bid for a week at Ezulwini Game Lodges located in the big 7 Balule nature reserve, part of the greater Kruger National Park. We fly later today to Johannesburg, where we will stay for a few days before flying north to Ezulwini. Once there, we will be staying at two different lodges for a total of five days, going out on two photo safaris each day. After week one, we fly to Cape Town for a week. This will be our second excursion to Africa, the first being The engineers without Borders mission in Ethiopia in 2006. I do not expect to lose 16 pounds this time around.